Zhao Minghui , Huang Xiazhen

Tropical Medicinal Plant Research Center, Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resources, Sanya, 572025, Hainan, China
Author    Correspondence author
Medicinal Plant Research, 2025, Vol. 15, No. 1   doi: 10.5376/mpr.2025.15.0002
Received: 20 Dec., 2024    Accepted: 25 Jan., 2025    Published: 05 Feb., 2025

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Zhao M.H., and Huang X.Z., 2025, The influence of fertilization strategy on the active ingredient content and yield of female motherwort, Medicinal Plant Research, 15(1): 12-19 (doi: 10.5376/mpr.2025.15.0002)

Fertilization management is the most important approach to regulating the quality and yield of medicinal plants, particularly the cultivation management of Leonurus japonicus (young motherwort). In recent years, research on the active constituents and yield of Leonurus japonicus has developed extensively. As one of the most significant agricultural managements, fertilization has attracted extensive concern because of its influence on the secondary metabolite accumulation (e.g., alkaloids, flavonoids, polysaccharides) and plant growth. The paper briefly reviews the work of the research on the impact of fertilization measures on Leonurus japonicus' content of active ingredients and yield, particularly the regulation mechanism of different nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, etc.) for secondary metabolism and yield enhancement. In addition, the paper also makes a discussion about the impact of fertilization on soil microecology and its potential effect on the ecological environment. The findings indicate that different fertilization combinations have very disparate impacts on the active constituents and yield of Leonurus japonicus. With scientifically optimized fertilization strategies, harmonious balance between quality and yield can be achieved. More significantly, the impacts of fertilization on the microbial communities in soils create new concepts for the improvement of fertilizer application efficiency and the realization of sustainable production. This study provides a theoretical foundation for future scientific fertilization management of Leonurus japonicus cultivation and a valuable reference for high-quality development and ecologically rational production regulations in the drug plant sector.

Leonurus japonicus; Fertilization strategy; Active ingredients; Yield; Soil microecology